Bull Season 3 Episode 4
She wasn’t easy to move on from.
This week, we opened the episode with something different: a wake for Cable, in her favorite hang out, her friends and family gathered to “talk about all those nutty t-shirts she wore.” Instead of a cold opening to our next client, we—the audience and characters—were given a chance to say farewell. We returned to pick up the threads frayed after the first episode of the season.
After the wake, Ellen (Jill Hennessy) revealed the police recovered personal items from Cable’s car and body. Bull (Michael Weatherly) automatically offered to take care of it and bring them (or not) to her. Despite this, we get the sense things were left unfinished.
It’s a horrible world.
Three weeks later, Danny (Jaime Lee Kirchner) asked Marissa (Geneva Carr) to put the TV on a breaking news report about plastic explosives found on the supports of the section of the I-99 where Cable perished. It appeared what happened was sabotage or terrorism.
So it turns out, the opening scene was not as different as we thought after all: Cable would be their client (hence the title in case there was any doubt).
I’m not going to stop dead from a sip of whiskey.
I appreciate the show for not sweeping Cable’s death to the wayside for the sake of new storylines. And Marissa’s reaction when she saw the glass of whiskey was a nice touch. We have three previous episodes stressing how Bull was determined to change his habits, one of which was his drinking. Bull assured Marissa he’s fine with a sip. She replied, “You don’t know that. I might kill you.”
Benny (Freddy Rodríguez) entered the office as well and together they broke the news they got Gronsky and his cell of terrorists who killed Cable. The involved cell was killed in Prague during a raid.
No one ever took credit for the collapse on purpose. The terrorists tried to make the bridge collapse look like it was an accident, to make everyone afraid of the everyday things people take for granted.
What do we do now?
Marissa asked a question many of us still ask to this day. The show didn’t pull any punches with Benny’s defeated sounding speech that there was nothing they can do. The terrorists won. They took the certainty away, the security away. And they took Cable.
Is the 3 am thing normal?
My favorite part was the return of the sleuthing Dr. Jason Bull of season one. He couldn’t ignore a case, especially when it involved someone from his team. He has the tenacity of Columbo, the belief he needed to be Atlas and shoulder more than he should handle; it’s always a thrill to see him chase down the conclusion of a case. Yet also worrying Bull was returning to his old ways.
Unfortunately for Marissa, Bull also returned with his late hours. At three in the morning, her doorman called up to say Bull was downstairs.
While Bull sat in her kitchen, he tells her he thought about what Benny said there was nothing to do but embrace fear.
Marissa’s husband, in a robe and not amused, showed up in what I call husbandry posturing. He introduced himself and pointedly asked if the late-night visits were a regular thing. You can’t help feeling sorry for Marissa here and a dash of irritation at Greg especially after Greg offered Bull a drink. Although Marissa was quick to say no, apparently her negative was vetoed when they later all sat around the table with a drink. The question here was, did Greg know about Bull’s drinking? And for that matter, did he care? I have a feeling he’ll feature in a later episode.
The folks that killed Cable.
The three discussed how the terrorists funded the attack. Marissa said it sounded like they needed a bank. Bull asked Marissa to reach out to any contacts she has in the US Attorney office. Marissa reminded Bull all the terrorists are dead. Who was Bull going after? Bull told Marissa he wanted to go after the ones who paid for the bridge to come down.
He is Thoreau.
Next day, Bull met with Marissa’s contact, AUSA Reynolds. The culprit, in this case, was a powerful financial giant called Thoreau Financial. The bank was investigated a few times and cleared every time.
There was no way to touch Thoreau. And the repercussions of bringing down his American bank could mean the loss of thousands of jobs.
Bull was unsatisfied. He asked what if they just bring the CEO down?
It’s a minor technicality.
Marissa announced to the TAC team John Honaker was their target instead of Thoreau. Bull’s convinced Honaker was involved.
Benny pointed out they weren’t prosecutors, though. And they can’t file a civil lawsuit because they weren’t family. Bull, however, found a way around that.
Why would I say no?
Bull went to see Ellen. He wanted to file a lawsuit for her against John Honaker. Bull would pay for everything. The idea of borrowing Ellen to file a civil lawsuit against Honaker bordered on the implausible. It was the classic brazen Jason Bull move. For this to work, he needed was Ellen’s consent.
But, Bull warned, the case would be painful, reporters could be knocking at her door.
It’s an interesting way to bring in Cable’s mother without the usual tropes we endure whenever a celebrity guest is brought in to play parent. There is often a tendency to ret-con a character’s canon to suit the guest star. Jill Hennessy, however, was a beautiful fit, playing the grieving mother of one of our beloved characters. She asked Bull if he ever lost a child and agreed to the lawsuit by way of asking him to “make it hurt.” This will become the mantra throughout the rest of the episode.
No one wants to replace Cable.
The episode understood how much of a loss Cable was for both the team and the audience. Everyone on the team had a chance to put in how they felt. When Danny barged into Bull’s office, it was a great moment. She pointed out she was not Cable. She was an investigator and Bull couldn’t expect her to be able to learn Cable’s skills this quickly. It was reassuring to hear the show in a way acknowledging it although I did wish they explored the team’s feelings of loss more rather than the case. But it at least paved the way for our new character when Marissa jumped in, promising she’ll handle it
Bull had weeks of candidates to interview, but he never even looked at the stack of resumes. He admitted he couldn’t sit there interviewing people like he was happy he or she was here.
Temporary Taylor Rentzel.
Bull planned to stay a few hours to read up on the case. (Uh oh) Marissa warned Bull not to fall asleep on his desk again. And don’t drink.
To be fair, Bull fell asleep on his couch, not his desk. He woke up to loud music and discovered Marissa’s friend Taylor Rentzel (MacKenzie Meehan) playing the loud music in TAC, dancing while she worked. Comically, she first thought Bull was the custodian.
Scrooge McDuck and Gronsky
Taylor was able to find a connection between Honaker and the terrorist Gronsky. They were in the same Ivy League school for six months. It was a slim connection, but a start.
Bull declared she’s hired, but nope, Taylor was only here for two days as her three-year-old Mauricio was with her ex, the moron. She works in Homeland in international banking. This was just a favor for Marissa
This was a nice way to introduce Taylor. Bull was reluctant to hire anyone and here was Taylor turning him down. We as the audience knows she’s joining the team eventually, but it was nice to see the show gave Taylor enough screen time for us to learn about her first rather than shoehorn her in.
Paper us into submission.
The case before it even went to trial went through attempts to ask for dismissal. And then a deluge of requested paperwork in hopes of overwhelming our TAC team. As the episode progressed, there was a clear line drawn around who was the bad guy in this week. Where we may have doubted in previous cases, here, we witnessed Bull at his best (and a bit of his worst) as he took on Honaker.
I told him to go duck himself.
Ellen came to TAC with interesting news. Thoreau tried to get Ellen to settle for $10 million which Ellen and Bull took as progress. They wouldn’t have tried if there was nothing there. However, Bull said they haven’t made it hurt yet.
Do you own a smartphone?
In the voir dire, Bull needed people who could understand the little details, especially the lines of banking code they got courtesy of Thoreau. Benny also asked a riddle and those quick to raise their hands were no good. This process was always the highlight of any episode giving us a dose of humor and uniqueness of Bull.
I cheated.
Back in TAC, Taylor shared her discovery that the terrorists’ accounts should have been red flagged.
Also, Honaker was in Panama. Gronsky was off the grid and might have been in Panama. too. But the information was from NSA. Taylor hacked into their servers. Therefore it wasn’t admissible in court. She promised to look for more and leaves to pick up her kid.
Adam Shaw
The team liked Taylor, except—as Marissa kept reminding them—she was only here for another day.
Meanwhile, Danny found an independent contractor Adam Shaw who was hired to do backdoor code. Everybody who worked for Thoreau signed an NDA, but Shaw was dying. There was nothing to lose if he testified.
Put it behind us.
Thoreau and his lawyer approached Bull and Benny with a settlement offer of $25 million. Bull said he was obligated to tell his client about the offer but would also advise her not to take it. He wanted this to hurt.
The following day, Adam Shaw was found dead. Everyone on the scene thought it was natural causes; Bull thought it was murder. Because the defense didn’t cross-examine Adam Shaw, his testimony was no longer any good.
What you thinking, Lincoln?
Taylor dropped by Bull’s office. Bull was there thinking how Honaker might get away with this. Taylor was there, despite her two days was up, because she found something. The only thing was, she was no longer sure if this was useful.
In Homeland, Taylor found a photo of Honaker and Gronsky together in Panama. Despite it being the damning evidence Bull needed, Taylor warned Bull he couldn’t use it. Taylor cheated again. She hacked into an NSA server. If Bull uses it, she will go to jail.
It’s revealing of Taylor’s character she bought it over sensing Bull needed to know for sure. And when Bull refused to give up photo, she looked resigned than shocked or angry.
This was for her.
At court, at Bull’s nod and despite Marissa’s protests, Benny showed the photo to the court. However, he said the photo was on a small media website. The judge allowed it, but Benny had to circumvent around the photo with “the guy in this photo who looks exactly like you.” Despite the vague references, the jury reacted to the fact Honaker made an $80 million bonus, off the billions in the terrorists’ accounts. Benny finished his questioning with “Eighty million dollars and thirty-seven lives lost.”
The jury found Honaker responsible and awarded the plaintiff $100 million. However, Benny didn’t feel like it’s enough. The $100 million was barely pocket change for Honaker. Bull, with his cryptic grin, hinted to wait.
Sure enough, AUSA Reynolds strode in and arrested Honaker for “providing material aid to terrorists, resulting in multiple deaths.”
You feel better now?
Bull dropped in on Taylor in the park where she watched over her kid playing. He mused out loud that everyone thought he was the one who leaked the photo when it was Taylor. Taylor replied she needed to protect herself. She challenged Bull, asked if he would have used the photo. She thought he would have; nothing mattered more than getting the bad guys. Bull apologized.
I’d love to work for someone who sticks up for me like that.
Taylor allowed that the bad guys did something bad and Bull was only trying to get justice for Cable. She added she would like to work for a person like that and promised Bull TAC would be the second most important thing in her life. She walked away, promising she’ll see him Monday as her number one important thing called to her.
Temporary Taylor temporary no more.
With the death of a beloved character like Cable, it’s hard to imagine who could replace her. The show acknowledged it with a good episode this week. It was also one of the smoothest and organic ways of introducing a new character without throwing off the dynamic.
Taylor was an intriguing character; she doesn’t threaten the show’s equilibrium. She didn’t arrive as a Spandexed babe, thrust upon the team, primed to be someone’s love interest or foil – and she was a competent character with her priorities and called Bull on his (ahem) bullshit. In a bittersweet way, she was the new Cable: an older Cable tempered by life, but still with the humorous streak that made her so much fun.
It was a great way to introduce a new character without resorting to the dreaded “Mary Sue” pitfalls where a newcomer waltzed in so utterly perfect the cast just had to have her. Her arrival to the team made sense and not contrived. We’ve seen the need to replace Cable was inevitable. The show took the time to devote a whole episode to the struggle and grief. I only wished it was more.
I’ve enjoyed the more personal storylines and watch it ripple through the cast. The show was still cautious about pushing their comfortable boundaries. Nevertheless, this episode was a touch darker, a touch more personal.
Hopefully, the introduction of a new character also heralds a new tone in the show. Bull addressed the case, our fears in a current landscape where safety was now fragile and no longer a given. Seeing Honaker get his comeuppance was viscerally satisfying even though it was cliché the villain here was the arrogant rich guy.
This episode gave us the farewell we desperately needed for Cable. I have my fingers crossed that the episodes onward will continue its personal focus so we can learn more about the rest of the team. Because the team is at a point they can be brought forward with their own stories.
I hope the show will do so and do each one justice.
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